Review

Review Summary: Definitely worth looking into, No Coast are certainly a band to keep tabs on and Jackals don't seem to stop improving. Two UK bands with bags of potential.

Dog Knights Productions, based in Brighton, UK, has been putting out some fantastic releases in 2011. He (that's right, a ONE man record label) has released music on behalf of a handful of decent UK bands including Maths, Pariso, Hospitals and Jackals.

Now I've enjoyed Jackals for a while now. Their first release, the self-titled 7" was a brutal piece of hardcore punk that really grabbed my attention. It was bass-heavy, loud and loose and was soon followed by their split release with Self Loathing. Jackals slowed things with the latter so I was intrigued as to whether they'd stick to their roots or embrace their sludgier side.

No Coast on the other hand, are a band I'm not at all familiar with but I had expectations for a band recording a split release with Jackals. They didn't disappoint. The first track kicks off with, well, a bit of noise nest. Some feedback, a repeated riff with some dweedly guitar playing rolled over the top, it soon kicks in to a thrashy hardcore song. Interesting, high pitched and squeeling, heavy and hard, contrasting all the time describes the guitar work. Vocally they are suitably abrasive and the drums are relentless. The mid-tempo second half riff to 'Beardrider' hooks and grabs your attention, gradually slowing down to a crawl-like-pace before abruptly finishing in typical hardcore fashion. 'Heels' quickly follows. With No Coast at their most aggressive and confrontational it doesn't let up. Drums power along and push the track on at a break-neck speed before its transition into what is an oddly catchy song. You'll be humming the guitar bends even after the song has finished, I promise. It's probably the best track on offer here.

Jackals's side is stylistically similar to their first release. The split with Self Loathing was (for them) a fairly slow paced, sludgy affair but with this release they've upped the pace again. There are some slower sections which is to be expected with Jackals, but fast outweighs the slow here. 'Take Everything' never lets up and is Jackals at their most vicious. Chords change at a frenetic pace, drums smash away and any remaining vocal chords are swiftly destroyed. Admittedly I'm not a fan of covers but 'Chemical Warfare' (originally recorded by The Dead Kennedys, duh) is done well and injects new life into the old classic. Sped up and slowed down, the song utilises the dual vocalists well. The final song, 'Reclaim it, why bother?' is well written, although I was slightly disappointed that the slowed down bass section didn't lead into some heavy as *** breakdown.. It's by no means a bad song, in fact it's a solid Jackals song, but after gradually building for a minute, introduced by some feedback, a mirrored guitar lick and followed by some tribal-esque durmming it disappointedly ends where it started.

Definitely worth looking into, No Coast are certainly a band to keep tabs on and Jackals don't seem to stop improving. Clocking in at less than ten minutes there's no excuse to not give it a chance. It's a great split release from two UK bands with bags of potential.

Available on 7" (comes with a free mp3 download) from www.dogknightsproductions.bigcartel.com